


Red

by angel_with_a_scythe



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Boys Kissing, Confessions, Developing Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Gift Fic, Kissing, M/M, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Post-Graduation, kurodai - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-25 04:02:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16653895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_with_a_scythe/pseuds/angel_with_a_scythe
Summary: Kuroo and Daichi have already graduated and nothing has happened. Can they find the courage to confess, or will they go their separate ways with no resolution?





	Red

**Author's Note:**

  * For [audriel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/audriel/gifts).



> Thanks for reading!
> 
> And thank you to audriel, again. Your support means the world to my family!

It was something he saw every day of his life; it wasn't special. His vision had been saturated with it, especially once he joined high school, and it had become something that seemed to blur with the background. It was on his clothes, it was on his bedroom wall, it was on his graded papers, and even in some of the foods he ate. It was in the leaves when they turned in fall, and it was in bows adorning presents during the holidays. It was in lights on the road, in paint on signs and cars... It was everywhere. It was insignificant.

So why was it so vibrantly intense and mooring his attention today? It was just a red shirt. Red, like everything else in his life, and yet it looked so different here, as if this shirt had some sort of special red dye he'd never seen before, where shadows melted into darker crimsons and highlights popped like the wings of a cardinal.

He tilted his head a bit, letting his eyes wander around the folds of the fabric and the way it tightened and stretched around the thicker muscles of the wearer's forearms and pulled around his biceps and shoulders. The collared neck stood perfectly starched, a few buttons undone for comfort, and the plackets created a V line that naturally drew his eyes downward to his chest. The fabric stretched taut here, as well, but it wasn't that the shirt was too small, by any means. No, it was just filled very, very well.

Kuroo licked his suddenly dry lips and swallowed a lump in his throat that he wasn't aware had formed. Sawamura Daichi looked... impeccable. Had he always looked this stunning? Sure, he had always been a beautiful man, but perhaps now that the pressures of high school had faded, his normally preoccupied mind was free and it was like seeing him in a new light.

If he was being honest with himself, it wasn't as if he'd invited him to his party without being aware of his own crush, but this was hitting him a little harder than he anticipated. He suddenly felt rather nervous, actually. His palms began to feel a bit clammy and his collar a bit too tight. In fact, he felt entirely too warm all of a sudden. If it weren't for the fact that he knew it impossible, he could swear the drink in his hand would start to boil at any moment.

He cleared his throat, straightening up a bit. Perhaps the plan to ask him out at this graduation party was not a good idea.

When he'd heard that Daichi would be attending a Tokyo university for college, his heart had skipped a beat, then felt like it had stopped completely, and he had had to force himself to take a steadying breath. It was in that moment he realized that the possibility for a relationship could actually become a reality. He'd long since given up on the idea before, deeming it hopeless. They were so far away from each other, had no real means of reliable transportation, would soon be immersed in studies, and why in the world would someone like Daichi want to date someone like Kuroo? He didn't think lowly of himself, but he certainly thought very highly of Daichi.

From the moment of their first handshake when they fixed each other with competitive stares, the rival captain had slowly, increasingly intruded on his thoughts. He had seen the signs that there _could_ be something there, or at least he hoped he did: The small touches here, the clasping of hands just a bit too long in a greeting there, and even eyes lingering on each other as if they wished their gazes could say what their words could not. They were so comfortable around each other, like best friends, texted constantly, knew things about each other their teammates didn't even know, and that was a sign, right? Or was he overanalyzing with the need for his hopes to be validated?

"You look like you're losing it," Kenma said, almost making him jump out of his skin. "Calm down." Kuroo let out a breath and shook his shoulders a bit, trying to loosen up.

"I know, I just..." he hesitated, chewing the inside of his lip.

"You'll be fine." It was the first time in a long time Kenma didn't have a bright screen up to his face, so he guessed he must have looked particularly bad.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Kuroo said, rubbing the back of his neck—a nervous habit—and trying to loosen up the back of his collar. He considered pulling at his white tie to slacken up the tightness in his throat, but Kenma was giving him such an intense stare that it made him still from scrutiny.

"Kuroo."

"Yeah, I know." He paused and turned to his long time friend, standing back. "Do I look okay? Put together?"

Kenma looked at his colorless outfit. That wasn't to say it wasn't dashing, it was just simple: a well-tailored black button up shirt tucked into finely pressed black slacks with a vibrant, skinny white tie that accentuated his long torso. His cuffs were rolled up around his elbows, having gotten a little more casual as the evening progressed, especially after the way he'd been heating up all night. The outfit was, for lack of better word, perfect, but he imagined Kuroo only saw flaws in every crease.

"You look fine. Better than fine." Though his tone was rather monotonous, he was being sincere and it made Kuroo visibly relax, even if it was just a tiny amount.

“Why is this hard? This shouldn't be hard, right? It's just words," Kuroo rambled, straightening his tie for the tenth time that night.

"Kuroo. You'll be fine."

"What if he says no? What if I ruin our friendship?"

"...Daichi would never let something like that come between your friendship."

"Alright." He swallowed. "Okay. You’re right." He took another deep breath. "I can do this."

Kenma offered him an encouraging, awkward pat on the arm. He wasn’t very good at this, but he was trying. "It will be fine."

"Okay." He said again. He took a step forward, then another, then swiveled right. "I'm going to get a drink first."

"Kuroo," Kenma hissed, trying to grab his shirt, but the taller man barely dodged and made a swift line for the refreshment table.

"Congratulations, Kuroo!" Hinata said as he bounced by and made his way towards Kenma. It was probably the third time he’d congratulated him, so it made him chuckle a bit.

"Thanks!" He called in return, risking a look in his direction and catching a deep glare from Kenma. He whipped back around and dumped his warm drink in the trash, grabbing a new cup and going for the pitcher of water.

"Kuroo?" His cup almost flew from his hand and he turned to peer into deep, chestnut brown eyes.

"Daichi! Hi," he said, setting his water down lest he spill all over the man. It was definitely inevitable at this point if he didn’t take precautionary measures. "What's up?" He cringed internally, the words leaving his mouth before he could stop them. How lame. He looked even more incredible up close, the proximity heightening Kuroo’s senses to an uncomfortable level.

Red. It’s just red. Perfectly normal, not-any-different-than-any-other red… except when it was on Daichi, who made it look like he was seeing the greatest color known to man. Oh, god… What would he do to other colors when he wore them? Would he start going blind from the vivacity? Would he turn Kuroo into a Mantis Shrimp with sixteen color-receptive cones instead of three like a normal human?

"Uh... I just wanted talk with you for a bit." He jolted from the scientific jargon jumbling around in his head, hardly catching Daichi’s words.

"Oh. Great."

"Um... are you alright?” Daichi asked, setting his drink down on the table. His body language stiffened a bit and he looked troubled. “You've been avoiding me all night. Did I... do something wrong?"

Kuroo sighed, rubbing his face in exasperation. "No. No, I'm sorry, it's just me. I'm feeling a bit stressed." Daichi looked taken aback.

"How? We just graduated, we got into our top university choices!” He put his hands on his hips, tilting his head to the side in confusion. “Is it uncertainty for the future?"

Ah, he was so kind and patient. The guilt hit Kuroo hard, making him sick to his stomach, but he could only blame himself at this point. Daichi was thoughtful. Daichi was considerate and supportive. Daichi deserved better. Here he had been consumed in his own thoughts, hadn’t even considered how he was affecting the other while he was having his mini meltdown, and selfishly avoided him to stall for time. He really _was_ lame, wasn’t he?

"Yeah, something like that." He sounded sullen, downtrodden, like something was beating him down and Daichi didn't like it at all. He frowned, reaching forward with his right hand and giving Kuroo’s forearm a gentle rub with his thumb.      

"Well, you're incredibly smart, so I wouldn’t worry. You’ll do well in whatever you pursue.”

“You think so?” He asked, looking up to meet his eyes as a million things raced through his mind. How could he explain that Daichi was the problem? How could he tell him that all the anxiety he was feeling was because he loved his best friend, the very man standing in front of him asking him what was wrong, and the very man that turned his life upside down the moment they met?

“I know so.” Daichi smiled. He smiled that big, handsome smile that reached all the way up to his beautiful chocolate brown eyes that were warm with kindness and confidence. It made his heart race and his stomach flutter, the effect causing a full spasm of his abdominal muscles, as if they were recoiling from a burn. The sensations made his fingers ache to touch his neck, to kiss those perfect lips and pull him against his chest. He wanted so badly to believe that Daichi loved him, too.

“Even…” he trailed off with a pause, searching the depths of his eyes. “Even if I want to pursue you?”

The shock that rippled through Daichi’s entire body radiated into his gaze, but he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Kuroo… what are you saying?” His heart jumped into his throat. It wasn’t exactly the response he was hoping for, and his stomach was plummeting with fear. He licked his lips, his body heating up with embarrassment, but his extremities cooling with the tingling of unease. This was not how he wanted to do this. He clenched his jaw, but stood his ground.

“I’m saying… I’m in love with you. I always have been.”

When the words left his lips, he felt lighter, like he’d been dying to release a festering weight that was worsening every day, but only for a moment, as the dread of possible rejection sank in soon after. It felt like his entire body was frozen, his heart thundered in his ears and he was sure everyone could see his pulse from across the room. The shock in those brown eyes never dissipated, only wavered with something incomprehensible, but there was no immediate response other than that.

He should just run and hide his mortification. He was fairly certain everyone was staring at them, plucking clues from their situation to discern exactly what was happening, but he couldn’t meet any of their gazes. He didn’t want to see what they were thinking and he didn’t care. The only person in the room whose perception of this mattered was right in front of him, and the prognosis was not good.

“Kuroo,” Daichi finally breathed, but he was no closer to understanding what was going through his head. Kuroo realized his breathing was becoming unsteady, and he quickly moved to cover his vulnerability.

“Crazy, right?” He laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, taking a step away. Daichi snagged his sleeve.

“No. It’s not crazy. It’s not crazy at all.” Kuroo bit the inside of his cheek and stopped, eyes widening with anticipation, and he dared not move lest he jeopardize what might come next. He didn’t let go, even though his gaze fell to the floor momentarily. In fact, his grip tightened, and Kuroo looked down at his fist in his shirt.

“Then…?” He asked, hopeful.

“Yeah.” It was Daichi’s turn to laugh sheepishly now, looking up with faintly red cheeks that reached all the way up to burn the tips of his ears. “I’m not very good at this stu-” His response was smashed by Kuroo surrounding him in a tight, relieved hug. He kissed the top of his head and wouldn’t let him go, fearing it may be some sort of dream. He thought he would be happy if Daichi returned his feelings, but this was beyond expectation. His throat constricted with the urge to hold back a joyous laugh that he was afraid might make him sound too desperate. His hands traveled up Daichi’s back, following the urges that had been suppressed for far too long to cup his neck and jaw and pull him into a kiss.

Their lips met and the butterflies in his stomach exploded ten-fold, every cell in his body lighting up like stars twinkling on a clear night. When he felt Daichi kiss him back, it was like his brain short-circuited and every anxiety that had plagued him for weeks disappeared with his stress. He heard the hitch in Daichi’s breath, the sound sending sparks down his abdomen and he drew away quickly. Their half-lidded eyes sought each other’s connection, so many emotions rolling through them simultaneously and both of them self-conscious with the exposure of their true feelings out in the air.

For everyone to see.

Some of the others had turned away awkwardly, some covered their mouths to hide the giant grins, and some were rolling their eyes so hard he could swear they were going to sprain them.

Well, now that he thought about it with a clearer head, it was probably a bit more obvious to everyone else than it was to them that they were head over heels for each other.

Daichi grabbed his tie and pulled him down, locking their lips together again, like a floodgate had been opened and all the hampered feelings had burst out. He kissed back without hesitation, another electric shiver shooting through him. This could get dangerous, but oh, god how he’d longed for this moment. He slung his arms around his waist, splaying his fingers across the small of his back to pull him flush against his chest.

His only regret was that he hadn’t done this sooner.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is dedicated to audriel, who selflessly donated to the fund to help my sister recover from the Camp fire in California. Words cannot express how absolutely honored I feel to be able to call you a friend and be a part of your life. I’m truly blessed. Please accept this small token of my appreciation.
> 
> From the mere suggestion of "red." Please enjoy.


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